The Regina Cougars are the tournament favourites, while their provincial counterparts the Saskatchewan Huskies earned the wild card for next weekend’s CIS women’s basketball Final 8 at the University of Calgary.
The seeding was announced Sunday for the 2012 CIS tourney set to kick off Saturday at the Jack Simpson Gym in Calgary. The eight-team competition concludes next Monday, March 19 with the gold medal final at 7 p.m. local (9 p.m. ET).
Shaw TV and NBA TV Canada will carry the two Sunday semi-final games live. Shaw TV will also carry the final live, while NBA TV Canada will broadcast the final on a two-hour tape delay (9 p.m. local / 11 p.m. ET). SSN Canada will have live webcasts of all 11 contests, including the main and consolation brackets.
Rounding out the seeding behind Cougars are the No. 2 UBC Thunderbirds (Canada West champions), No. 3 Ottawa Gee-Gees (OUA champions), No. 4 and defending champion Windsor Lancers (East Regional champions), No. 5 Acadia Axewomen (AUS champions), No. 6 Saskatchewan Huskies (wild card), No. 7 McGill Martlets (RSEQ champions) and No. 8 Calgary Dinos (host).
The Cougars, who had their undefeated streak snapped at 23 games in the Canada West final against UBC, were awarded the No. 1 seed after holding that ranking all season in the CIS Top 10. They earned their ticket to the Final 8 after winning the West Regional Saturday night with an 85-62 win over Brock. They will face the host Dinos in the final quarterfinal on Saturday, March 17 at 7 p.m. MT.
The Huskies, who lost the West Regional semi-final to Brock Friday night, were selected as the wild card entry by the committee and enter as the No. 6 seed.
The No. 2 UBC Thunderbirds will open the tournament against the Quebec champion McGill Martlets at 12 p.m. Saturday. Other first-round contests will see Ottawa battle Saskatchewan at 2 p.m. and defending champion Windsor taking on Acadia at 5 p.m.
With their 2011 championship on their home floor, the Lancers snapped Canada West’s vice-like grip on the Bronze Baby after teams from the West (including the now defunct Great Plains conference) had won 19 consecutive banners, dating back to 1991.
Note: A complete championship preview will follow on Tuesday.
SEEDING
1. Regina Cougars (West Regional champions: 20-0 regular season / 5-1 playoffs)
2. UBC Thunderbirds (Canada West champions: 15-3 regular season / 4-0 playoffs)
3. Ottawa Gee-Gees (OUA champions: 19-3 regular season / 4-1 playoffs)
4. Windsor Lancers (East Regional champions: 20-2 regular season / 4-1 playoffs)
5. Acadia Axewomen (AUS champions: 17-3 regular season / 2-0 playoffs)
6. Saskatchewan Huskies (Wild card: 15-5 regular season / 3-2 playoffs)
7. McGill Martlets (RSEQ champions: 11-5 regular season / 2-0 playoffs)
8. Calgary Dinos (Host: 14-6 regular season / 0-2 playoffs)
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